By Miles Kresic
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, introduced a new $2 trillion environmental plan to boost the clean energy economy. The plan proposes to eliminate dependence on fossil fuels by 2035, creating jobs for Americans and strengthening the economy.
The policy is part of an effort by the Biden campaign to attract more liberal voters, as well as blue-collar voters who would receive economic opportunities as part of the plan.
The plan comes in the wake of a global pandemic that has so far left more than 140,000 Americans dead and millions more applying for unemployment benefits. The proposal, focused on creating much-needed jobs, is similar to proposals set forth in the past by President Trump, without the emphasis on fossil fuels.
Instead, Biden’s plan proposes weatherizing and upgrading homes, creating around one million jobs for Americans over the next four years. Biden said his plan is different than Trump’s plan, and that he will actually get the plan passed by Congress.
“He’s never delivered. Never really even tried,” Biden said. “Well, I know how to get it done.”
He further criticized Trump’s failure to act, saying “Seems like every few weeks when he needs a distraction from the latest charges of corruption in his staff, or the conviction of high-ranking members of administration and political apparatus, the White House announces, quote, ‘It’s Infrastructure Week’.”
Biden has had trouble appealing to liberals in the past, with his opposition to issues like defunding police or implementing a universal healthcare system damaging his appeal to the demographic. He is looking to change that with this latest piece of environmental legislature. Governor Jay Inslee of Washington, an environmentalist who has endorsed Biden, called the plan “visionary.”
“It is comprehensive,” Inslee said. “This is not some sort of, ‘Let me just throw a bone to those who care about climate change’.”
Biden also compared his plan to the Obama administration’s Economic Stimulus Act. “We’ll do it again. But this time bigger and faster and smarter.” Biden said.
Biden did not specify how the plan will be funded, but campaign advisors said some funding could come from increased corporate income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.